KOBE -- The British luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 arrived at Kobe port Mar. 3, marking her first visit to the city since the Great Hanshin Earthquake crippled the major shipping center.
The 300-meter ship, painted in white and blue and carrying about 1,800 passengers, sailed majestically into port, berthing at Kobe Terminal at 8 a.m. Accompanied by a brass band, about 100 welcomers waved to the passengers, adding a joyous atmosphere to the port. Fusako Shimizu, 55, of Hyogo Ward, Kobe, who came to photograph the British liner, said Kobe's restoration work is continuing steadily, partly with aid from other countries, but there are some places where vivid scars of the disaster are evident. She said she wants passengers of the luxury ship to see both features of the port city.
The Queen Elizabeth 2, completed in 1969, visited Japan for the first time in 1975 on its way around the world. The luxury liner has not docked in Kobe since 1993.